


No Strings Attached

by ereshai



Series: Check, Please! 13 Days of Halloween 2016 [7]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: 13 Days of Halloween, Gen, Misunderstandings, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-26
Updated: 2016-10-26
Packaged: 2018-08-27 03:29:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8385445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ereshai/pseuds/ereshai
Summary: There's a reason Whiskey doesn't spend a lot of time with the team.





	

Bitty was in the kitchen – as usual – when Whiskey walked through the front door. He’d been baking – also as usual – and his magic permeated the whole Haus, warm and welcoming. Whiskey grimaced.

“Hey, Whiskey,” Bitty called cheerfully – as usual. “You’re just in time for a little pre-practice snack, if you’re so inclined.” He pointed at the muffins cooling on the counter.

“No thank you,” Whiskey said, careful to be polite but firm in his refusal. “I already ate. I’m meeting Tango and Chowder so we can walk over to Faber together.”

Bitty looked at him thoughtfully. “Tango’s not here yet, but Chowder will be down soon. Why don’t you come in and have a seat. I think we should have a chat.”

This was exactly what Whiskey had been hoping to avoid, but he couldn’t risk refusing Bitty’s request – order, more like. He sat stiffly on one of the chairs at the kitchen table.

“Would you like something to drink?”

“Water, please.” There wasn’t much harm in accepting a glass of water. Water was communal; Whiskey wasn’t implying acceptance of anything else by taking it.

Bitty set the glass on the table by his hand and sat down opposite him. “I’m just going to come right out with it,” he began. “I get the feeling you don’t like me much.”

Whiskey went cold. “I don’t…dislike you,” he said. He knew better than to lie, but the truth probably wouldn’t go over much better.

“You never come to team meals. I’ve offered to bake your favorite things, but you refuse to tell me what they are. In fact, you’ve never eaten a single thing I’ve baked. So forgive me if I’m not seeing how you don’t dislike me.”

“I don’t want to be part of your coven,” Whiskey burst out, then cringed, waiting for Bitty’s inevitably angry reaction. Such a powerful witch wouldn’t take his refusal well, not when he’d been trying so hard to get Whiskey to join him.

“Coven?” Bitty asked blankly. “What coven?”

“Um…”

“Lord and Lady, what would I do with a coven? I’m just a simple kitchen witch. I don't need the power of a whole coven to bake some goodwill into a pie.”

“Oh. The hockey team isn’t…” Whiskey felt stupid all of a sudden.

“There aren’t but a couple of others that have more than a thimbleful of magic on the team. We’re hardly a _coven_.”

“So when you kept trying to get me to come to team things, offering me food…”

“We’re a team. The better we get along, the better we play on the ice. That’s just common sense, not witchcraft.”

“Oh.” Yep, stupid. His face flushed bright red.

“And let me tell you, if I was to start a coven, I wouldn’t be tricking other people into joining it. I’d flat out ask, _and_ I’d take no for an answer. You got that?”

Whiskey nodded. “Sorry,” he said quietly.

“Well, I’m glad we got that settled. I hate to think what kind of witches you’ve known, if you thought I’d do such a thing.”

Whiskey shrugged. “Just the regular kind, I guess.”

Bitty stared at him.

“I wouldn’t mind trying one of those muffins.” It was a peace offering; also, he really wanted to try Bitty’s baking. The rest of the team kept going on and on about how wonderful it was.

“Go on and help yourself. They’re freely given, nothing asked, nothing promised.”

Relief filled him at Bitty’s words. No strings attached. Maybe it would be okay to trust Bitty and the rest of the team after all.


End file.
